Method of making tableware



Sept. 23, 1958 a. A. LYON, JR

METHOD OF MAKING TABLEWARE Filed March 23. 1955 fry E 271??? 62-"0205 ,4. 41 0/14. L/Q.

METHOD OF MAKING TABLEWARE Ge rge Albert Lyon, In, Detroit, Mich.

Application March 23,1955, Serial'No. 496,099

ZClaims. (C l- 76-9105) This invention relates to a method of making tableware and more particularly to a method of making spoons and the like.

In the fabricating of metal tableware, tableware manufacturers obtain from the steel mills rolled strips which are not of a cross-sectional contour that lends itself most efiiciently to the blanking of tableware pieces therefrom. As a consequence, expensive additional fabricating operations must be carried on by the tableware manufacturer which could be eliminated if the strip was furnished in a predetermined cross-sectional contour most suitable for the fabrication of tableware pieces therefrom.

An object of this invention is to provide a novel method of manufacturing tableware from strip stock which contemplates the interrelationship of the mill rolling of the strip with the subsequent tableware fabricating operations in such a manner that the fabricating operations can be simplified to such an extent as to enable a considerable saving in the overall cost of manufacture.

In accordance with the general features of this invention there is provided in a method of forming tableware such as spoons and the like from metal strip the steps of forming a metal strip with opposite longitudinal channeled areas in its marginal portions each connected by a shoulder to an intermediate area between the channeled areas and cutting from said strip tableware blanks cross wise of the strip with the handle end of each blank being cut from said intermediate area of the strip and with the other ends of the blanks being alternately cut from said opposite channeled areas.

Other objects and features of this invention may more fully appear from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a single embodiment thereof and in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a strip made in accordance with the method of this invention and illustrating how spoon blanks are cut or punched therefrom;

Figure 2 is an end view showing the cross-sectional contour of the rolled strip of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view through a spoon made from one of the blanks cut from the strip shown in Figure 1.

As shown on the drawings:

In Figure 1 I have illustrated a tableware blank 9 which may be shaped into the form of a spoon 10 (Figure 3) and which blank may be stamped or otherwise suitably formed from the metal strip 11. It will be appreciated that while I have illustrated a spoon as the piece of tableware to be formed, other various types of tableware pieces could be readily cut from this same strip such, for example, as forks.

This metal strip 11 from which the blanks 9 are formed comprises a sheet metal strip such, for example, as stainless steel.

Since it is believed that my novel metal strip will be best understood from a description of the method of making the same, I shall now proceed with that description.

States Patent Ofifice 2,852,963 Patented Sept. .23., .1

The first step informing tableware blanks 9 such as spoons 10 and the like from the metal strip 11 is the formation of the metal strip by way of rolling suitable metal st k (not sho n) t h a. m ta r l ng apparatus or the'like (not shown into my novel predetermined configuration. It willbe best seen. in Figures 1 and 2 that the formed strip includes Opposite longitudinally channeled areas or head. portions "112 -13 in the marginal portions 14 and 15 each connected bya shoulder 15517 to anintermediate area'18.

The next step of my novel method concerns itself with the cutting out of thepreviously formed and desc ibed metal strip 11a plurality of tableware blanks 9 to form spo n .10 or th like- 1111 so doins, i ill e not 'the formed blanks 9 or pieces oftableware are staggered or alternated with one piece first pointing in one direction and the next blank then in an opposite direction so as to conserve material. This cutting out of the blanks of tableware may be accomplished by means of a punch press or any other suitable apparatus.

The channeled areas 1213 constitute the areas where the head end 19 of each tableware blank is formed from with the shoulders 1617 defining the angular junction 20 of the spoon joining the head 19 to the handle end 21. The handle end 21 is formed from the portion lying in the intermediate area 18 between the shoulders 16 and 17.

It will be noted that each blank 9 is formed in such a manner that the channeled areas 12 and 13 are progressively tapered from their junction with body portion 18 at shoulders 16 and 17 to substantially their outermost edges or extremities. This is contrasted with the intermediate portion 18 which is of a larger and substantially uniform cross section. By virtue of this blank construction trimming of the blank 9 is kept to a minimum.

Still further, as will be noted from Figure 2, the metal strip 10 is formed in such a manner that the lowermost surface of channeled portions 12 and 13 lie substantially below the plane of the lowermost surface of intermediate portion 18. By virtue of the instant strip construction the blanks 9 as they are being stamped out need less working of the metal during the stamping of the blank.

The metal blank 9 thus formed from the metal strip 11 is further processed by suitable forming apparatus so as to impart to the metal blank 9 its final or spoon shape shown in Figure 3. Figure 3 shows how a metal spoon will appear in a completed state. It will be noted that the channeled portion of the strip 12-13 now defines a dished end 22 of the spoon.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a method of manufacturing tableware such as spoons and the like from a strip of sheet metal having a thickness approximating the thickness of the handle of the tableware blank to be manufactured therefrom and a width slightly greater than the length of the piece of tableware plus the length of a head portion such as a bowl, the steps of displacing opposite margins of the sheet strip by dishing the opposite margins along the length of the strip out of the plane of a central portion of the strip lying between the margins leaving shouldered areas at the junction of the margins with the central portion while tapering and reducing the thickness of the marginal portions with the thickest area disposed at the junction and with the most reduced area lying at the outer edges of the marginal portions, and stamping tableware blanks from the strip with handle portions of the blank struck from the central portion and with the head portions alternately struck from first one of the margins of the margins and with the bowl, the steps of displacing opposite margins of the sheet strip by dishing the opposite margins along the length of the strip out of the plane of a central portion of the strip lying between the margins leaving shouldered areas at the junction of the margins with the central portion, and stamping tableware blanks from the strip with handle portions of the blank struck from the central portion and with the head portions alternately struck from first one of the margins and then from the other of the margins and with the junction being disposed at the intersection of the head portion with the'handle portion on each tableware blank.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 33,247 Grosjean Sept. 10, 1861 192,801 White July 3, 1877 205,329 Abel et al. June 25, 1878 220,002 Wallace Sept. 23, 1879 220,003 Wallace Sept. 23, 1879 265,959 Hart Oct. 17, 1882 280,918 Dunn June 10, 1883 1,098,071 Wilzin May 26, 1914 1,502,502 Hawes July 22, 1924 2,535,406 Gehred Dec. 26, 1950 

